We issued the following statement today after a Philippine court sentenced Muhammad Maulana to life in prison for the murder of journalist Edgar Amoro. Amoro witnessed the killing of his fellow Pagadian City-based broadcaster, Edgar Damalerio, in May 2002. In December 2005, a police officer, Guillermo Wapile, was sentenced to life in prison for gunning down Damalerio...

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New York, December 26, 2007 — The Philippine government today announced that it has identified a witness in the slaying of radio broadcaster Ferdinand Lintuan on Monday. The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to ensure that the case is aggressively pursued in order to bring Lintuan’s attackers to justice.

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New York, December 21, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on the Philippine authorities to vigorously prosecute two suspects who have been arrested in connection with the 2001 shooting death of Philippine radio reporter Rolando Ureta.

According to the National Union of Journalists, Philippines (NUJP), and local media reports, Jessie Ticar surrendered to police on Tuesday, after he learned that fellow suspect Amador Raz was captured by police on November 26.

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MANILA, Philippines--As a private attorney in the Philippines, Nena Santos does not have standing to try a murder case. But under an unusual provision of Philippine criminal law, she is permitted to work directly with police and government prosecutors in all phases of the investigation and trial: gathering evidence, preparing witnesses, and drafting potential indictments. Her work, even government prosecutors acknowledge, helped lead to the conviction of the three men who killed Marlene Garcia-Esperat.

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Your Excellency:
The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply troubled by recent statements made by presidential spokesman Ignacio Bunye and the Philippine National Police (PNP) that many of the cases of journalists killed in the country have been solved and that the cases are unrelated to the issue of press freedom.

On May 2, when the Committee to Protect Journalists identified the Philippines as the world's most murderous country for journalists, the reaction was swift. "Exaggerated," huffed presidential spokesman Ignacio Bunye, who was practiced at dismissing the mounting evidence. He had called an earlier CPJ analysis of the dangers to Philippine journalists "grossly misplaced and misleading."

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The epidemic of murderous attacks on the Philippine press corps finally forced the government to reverse its longtime denial of the problem and to step up efforts to combat the violence. Some limited progress in law enforcement, a landmark conviction in one murder case, and growing support for broadcast reforms could signal a change for the better for the Philippine press.